If the foundations of courage, love and hope are compromised, an education will fall short on its promise, UWindsor President Alan Wildeman said in a public address Thursday on campus.

“I believe it is the University’s duty to provide a supportive environment and spaces within which every person, regardless of who they are, can feel that those foundations are enabled so that their own human spirit can thrive,” he said to a crowd of hundreds of faculty, students, staff and members of the broader community.

In his address, entitled “Building on the Common Ground,” he looked ahead to 2013, the 50th anniversary of the University’s founding, and laid out a master plan for the campus that includes centralization of student services and a Welcome Centre to greet visitors and campus newcomers.

“We cannot have a University where students have to go to multiple buildings to get the basic services they need,” Dr. Wildeman said. “So we have spent the past two years developing the vision that will see us embark upon the next 50 years with a fully revitalized campus.”

That revitalization also includes the construction of an Innovation Centre and parking structure slated for the southeast intersection of Wyandotte and Sunset streets, completion of the Centre for Engineering Innovation, the renovation of Essex Hall, and the creation of a downtown campus for music, visual arts, film production, social work and professional education programs.

He stressed that capital projects will be funded in ways that do not strain the University’s operating budget: “We are not doing realignment to free up money to build a building.”

In addition to introducing the Service Excellence Program (see related story), Wildeman played a video about internationalization efforts in the Faculty of Education (see related story), and encouraged individuals to share stories through the Are You Proud? campaign.

The Centre for Teaching and Learning recorded Thursday’s event and is preparing it for webcast. Watch for a link in DailyNews next week.